


This Is Living

by LDaniels



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-06 09:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10332032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LDaniels/pseuds/LDaniels
Summary: Happily married, retired and settled into the small coastal surfing town of Melbourne with their two kids, Ali and Ashlyn take on the greatest adventure and hardest challenge yet- being parents. Here, there are no yellow cards or substitutions. If only it were that easy.





	1. Meet the Family

“Elliot!” Ashlyn called down the hallway from the bottom of the stairs. Ali walked by and handed her a cup of coffee blindly, almost spilling it down the front of Ashlyn’s white shirt. She steadied the cup in her hands and quickly took a sip. “Thanks babe…Elliot! Come on! Hustle! I **will** leave without you!”

“No, you won’t.” Ali mumbled from the kitchen.

Elliot was always the first one up in the morning, but she also took the longest to get ready. She was a straight A student, captain of the soccer team…it made sense. She was Ali’s flesh and blood. Elliot was the spitting image of her. The only thing that set them apart was their hair. The donor must’ve been blonde- Elliot had the longest, prettiest. brightest, blonde curly hair. It made Ashlyn so happy because she looked like a proper beach brat. Even then, teenagers didn't come with instruction manuals and raising one was no walk in the park. It wasn't really Elliot they needed to worry about, it was everyone else.

“Sorry, Tatts! I’m coming!” Elliot said as she came down the steps.

“ _Tatts_. Is that really what we’re calling me now?” Ashlyn said as her daughter brushed past her and slipped into the kitchen.

“I like it.” Ali said, dropping fresh toast onto a plate on the counter. “It’s cute.”

“See, mom likes it.”

“Cute?” Ashlyn almost sounded offended by the soft word.

“Let’s be real, Tatts. ‘Mom’ just isn’t a suitable word for you.” Elliot said matter-of-factly. Ali nearly spit out her coffee.

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Look at you; you’re wearing boardshorts and your hat is on backwards.”

Ashlyn self-consciously looked herself over.

“And you’re literally **covered** in tattoos.” Elliot added for good measure.

“I think what Elliot is _trying_ to say is that you’re just too cool for such an ordinary name.” Ali looked over at Elliot with a dangerous stare and she nodded in response.

“Yes, exactly. She gets it.”

Finally, Ashlyn gave up questioning it and she just nodded in approval. “You know what, you're right. I am pretty cool.”

“Yes.” Ali walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek. “The coolest. Now go, you guys are gonna be late.”

“You heard the woman, grab your juice, let’s go.” Ashlyn said, and Elliot got to her feet. “Do you have your bag for practice?”

“Check.”

“Cleats?”

“Check.”

“Water bottle? Tennis shoes? Practice jersey?”

"Check, check, and check.”

“Alright, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

“Do you have to say that _every time_ we leave the house?”

“Yes, actually. I do.” Elliot and Ali laughed. “I’ll be back shortly. Do you need anything while I’m out?” Ashlyn asked.

“Nope. Not that I can think of.” She smiled. “Be careful. I love you both.”

“Love you.” They replied in unison.

-

In the garage, Elliot tried to get in the car, but the doors were locked.

“Tatts, open the doors.”

“Nope.”

Elliot looked at her mother with a confused look.

“Grab a board.” Ashlyn walked over and took one of the longboards from the rack on the wall. Elliot dropped her shoulders and Ashlyn smiled. “You need to work on your balance and who knows, maybe this time you’ll beat me.”

“Is that supposed to be a challenge?” Elliot retorted.

“If that gets us there faster- yes. It's a challenge.”

* * *

 

“Hey babe.” Ali greeted when Ashlyn came walking back into the house. “Why are you all sweaty?”

“We took the longboards.”

“Ah.”

Ashlyn walked around the counter and got a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“You used to like when I came home all sweaty.” Ashlyn said, making an advance on Ali.

“Listen, after a long day of camp- I was desperate. And you…you were just too pretty to resist.”

“Mmmm.” Ashlyn leaned in to kiss Ali’s neck when suddenly Ali turned away and Ashlyn fell forward into the sink.

“Now go get a shower. You smell.” Ali smacked Ashlyn’s butt as she walked off down the hallway.

“Yewww!”

-

“We have that parent teacher conference with Taylor’s teacher this afternoon after school, don’t forget.”

Her teacher has called and left messages on the machine all week, insisting that both Ali and Ashlyn come in. They’ve been putting it off because what could there possibly be to talk about when the subject matter is a six-year-old, but seeing as how she’s called almost every day they figured they better go in and get it over with. Despite popular belief, and no matter what Mr. Kennedy from across the street may say, the Harris family aren’t trouble makers. Especially Taylor, the youngest of the two.

However, in a few months, she would be the second youngest of the _three_.

Ali’s pregnant.

She hasn’t told Ashlyn yet.

“I won’t forget. You know it’s on the top of my priority list.” Ali was amused with her wife’s sarcastic reply.

Upstairs, Ashlyn crept down the hallway and into Taylor’s bedroom. Walking into the room, Ashlyn felt like she was that age again, walking into her own bedroom. Surf posters covered the walls and skate magazines scattered the floor. She sat down on the edge of the bed and softly brushed the girl’s hair behind her ear. Slowly she rolled over into Ashlyn and opened her eyes.

“What’s going on, dude?” Ashlyn smiled.

Taylor was Ashlyn’s shadow. They were never without one another. Just as Elliot was the spitting image of Ali, Taylor was the spitting image of Ashlyn. Not in looks, Ali carried her as well, but in behavior and personality. There we no skirts or dresses in Taylors’s closet; Only surf shirts and snapbacks.

“It’s time to get up.”

“Do I have to go to school today?” Taylor tone was so sad and it nearly broke Ashlyn in two. Something must be wrong, she thought.

“Why? What’s going on at school?”

Taylor rolled over away from Ashlyn and hopped down off her bed and walked out into the hallway.

“Hey you! Good morning, sunshine.”

Taylor ignored Ali as she slipped through under her hand and went downstairs. Ali didn’t understand.

“What was that about?” Ali looked to Ashlyn in the hopes she had an explanation.

Ashlyn stood up from the bed and walked up to Ali, leaning her shoulder against the door frame.

“There’s something going on at school. Suddenly I feel guilty for not thinking anything of those calls from her teacher.”

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t know yet…” She kissed Ali on the forehead and sighed. “But I think we’re going to find out soon enough.”

* * *

 

Ali And Ashlyn were relaxing on the couch, watching house hunters when the phone started ringing. It was quarter til 12. Ashlyn dropped Taylor off at school just a few hours ago. Ali got up and grabbed the phone from the counter.

“Hello…….Yes, this is she………..Mhmm…..Mhmm……Wait, what happened?” Ashlyn stood up and Ali turned to her with panic in her eyes. “Okay. Yes. We’ll be right over.” Ali pressed the button and set the phone back onto the table. She looked petrified.

“Ali, what’s wrong?!”

“Taylor got into a fight at school.”


	2. Like Mother, Like Daughter

Ali ran three stop signs and managed to get to the school, which is 30 minutes away, in half that time.

Necessary? No. Did she care? No. Was anyone going to question her about it? **Hell no**.

She threw the car in park and jumped out, practically sprinting to the front doors.

“Here we go..” Ashlyn said under her breath as she followed behind at a reasonable pace.

“Where is she?” Ali was never one to be subtle.

The lady at the front desk slowly looked up to see the frantic brunet standing before her.

“Pardon me? Where is who?”

“What? My daughter. Where is my daughter?” Ali was now growing impatient. Just then, a very calm Ashlyn came walking in.

“We got a call; apparently our daughter, Taylor, got into a fight.” Ashlyn politely informed the woman. “Honey, why don’t you sit down. Relax.”

Ali took her wife’s advice and sat down in one of the chairs against the wall.

“And what’s your name, dear?”

“Ashlyn. Harris.”

“Okay, Mrs. Harris. You’ll just have to sign in here.” The woman slide a clipboard in front of her and handed her a pen. “And this is your wife?” She gestured behind Ashlyn to Ali, who was borderline manic.

“Yep. She’s mine.” Ashlyn smiled enthusiastically.

“Okay, she’ll have to sign in too.”

“Ali, you need to sign in.”

Ali, still very unamused, got up from her chair and signed the clipboard.

“Alright, just have a seat there and someone will be down to get you.”

“Thank you.”

“What do you think happened? Do you think she’s okay? Surely, she is, right?”

“Al, breathe. This is Taylor we’re talking about. I’m sure she’s fine. And I have no idea what happened. Just try and relax. We are at the school and not the hospital so how bad can it be?”

She was trying to help but she wasn’t ever really good at that. Ali just leaned into Ashlyn and took her hand.

A few minutes went by and a tall women in a skirt suit came into the room.

“ _Hello queen Elizabeth_ …” Ashlyn whispered maybe just a little too loudly, getting her a well-placed elbow to the rib cage.

“Hi.” Ali said, standing.

“Mrs. Harris.” The woman greeted Ali then turned to Ashlyn as she stood. “And, Mrs. Harris...”

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to.” Ashlyn joked, trying to liven the mood. Again- not helping.

Ali just rolled her eyes.

“Where is she?” All she wanted was to know if she was okay.

“She’s in the classroom. The rest of the students are still out for recess.”

“Is she alright?”

“Why don’t you come see for yourself.”

They followed the woman back the hallway and up a small set of stairs to a classroom. When they walked inside, Taylor was there, sitting at her desk, not a scratch on her. Ali immediately ran over to her, checking over every inch of the little girl.

“Sweetie. What happened? Are you alright?”

“You’re daughter’s fine. That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is the problem?” Now that Ali had her answers, Ashlyn wanted some.

“The problem is that she put two other students in the nurse’s office with bloody noses.”

“Ha!” Ashlyn quickly caught herself, closing her mouth and pressing her lips together. “I’m sorry.”

“Mrs. Harris, this is no laughing matter. Your daughter may have just broken two students noses. That’s at least three days suspension.”

“Alright, hold on. These students, were they boys or girls?”

The woman suddenly crossed her arms.

“I hardly think that matters here, Mrs. Harris.”

“Oh, but I think it does.” Ashlyn was now the one growing impatient.

“Boys.”

Ali’s mouth dropped.

“Mmm. Okay, so you have two boys in the nurses office and my daughter is the one who is in trouble.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at this statement.

“Yes?”

“Then let me ask you this,” Ali just sat in silence with Taylor. It was clear Ashlyn had the questioning under control. “Why do you think they’re in there? People don’t just give other people bloody noses for no reason, especially not my daughter. Not Taylor. Did you ever think about that?”

“Mrs. Harris, you better watch your tone.”

“My name is Ashlyn. You can call her Mrs. Harris.” Ashlyn blindly pointed back to Ali. “Now, I know you seem to be in the habit of dehumanizing people so maybe calling me Ashlyn will be too difficult for you.”

“Excuse me? How on earth am I dehumanizing anyone?”

Ali watched on and wondered how much more it would take for the vein in Ashlyn’ neck to burst. Ali knew Ashlyn’s past. She knew that this wasn’t a foreign topic to her and it was one she took very personally. Many years ago, Ashlyn was sitting in the exact position Taylor is.

“Your students are bullying my daughter! They’re picking on her and for some reason you are completely oblivious to it! Look at her! She’s not like the other girls! She’s different!”

The woman looked over at Taylor and suddenly she felt guilty.

“Now before you go around pointing fingers and suspending anybody, why don’t you try and actually see what’s going on first. All you care about is punishing her when your students are doing a pretty good job of it already. So good in fact that two of them have broken noses.” Ashlyn took a breath and tried to calm herself down. “My daughter did nothing wrong. And if you can’t see that then the two students in the nurses office aren’t you’re only problem.”

Ali looked at Taylor and she was smiling. Sure, Ashlyn probably shouldn’t have been talking to a teacher like that, but everything she said was true. And that wasn’t even the point. The point was that Ashlyn stood up for her daughter because she knew that she was wronged. And that made Ali so proud.

“Now, if that’s everything, I think I’ll take my daughter home now.”

The woman looked at Ashlyn and she knew that everything that had just come out of her mouth stood on solid ground. Taylor had done nothing wrong. She stood up for herself.

“Yes. I think that’s everything. I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you in any way.”

“Thank you.” Ashlyn turned away from the woman and met Taylor’s eyes for the first time since she’d got there. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go home.” She said, holding out her hand.

Taylor got up from the desk and ran over and grabbed Ashlyn’s hand. Ashlyn gave the woman one last look before she walked out of the room with Taylor.

Ali stood up from the desk and slowly made her way to the door.

“Thanks, Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth? My name is not Elizabeth?”

“You’re not Queen Elizabeth?” The woman just stared mindlessly at Ali. “Maybe you should stop dressing like her then.” Ali gave a charming smile and walked out of the room, where she caught up with Ashlyn and Taylor.

The woman peeked her head of the room just in time to see Ali and Ashlyn high-five and she shook her head, still completely at a loss for words.

“I can taste that early retirement.” She mumbled to herself. “I can really taste it.”

-

Back at the Harris house, everyone was finally calmed down. Even Ashlyn, but Taylor was still a little upset. As soon as they walked in the door, she went straight up to her bedroom.

“Maybe she thought we were going to send her there.” Ali suggested, but Ashlyn shook her head.

“It’s alright, I got this one.” Ali smiled and wrapped her arms around Ashlyn’s waist.

“I know you do.” Ali placed a kiss on her back before she went up to do damage control.

Ashlyn was about to knock on her door, but she stopped. She then turned and walked on down the hall to her and Ali’s room. A few moments later she was back outside of Taylor’s room with a small box in her hands. She knocked on the door before quietly opening it. Taylor was sitting on the floor, messing with one of her skateboards.

“Can I come in?” Ashlyn tried. All she got in response was a few small nods.

She closed the door and sat on the floor beside her, watching her as she tightened at bolts around the wheels. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Taylor glanced over at the box at Ashlyn’s feet.

“What’s in the box?”

“I wanted to show you something. Can I show you something?”

Taylor nodded and Ashlyn removed to the lid from the box. Inside where pictures. Ashlyn took out one and handed it to Taylor. Then she handed her another one. And another one.

“Why are you showing me pictures of myself?” Taylor was confused.

Ashlyn smiled.

“That’s not you.” Taylor looked up at her mother. “That’s me.”

Taylor looked back down at the photograph and a smile slowly started to appear. Ashlyn reached out her arms and re-positioned her legs.

“Come here,” Taylor slowly climbed into Ashlyn’s lap and she handed her another picture. “I have a story for you.” Taylor leaned back into her mother’s chest and held tightly to the pictures in her hand. “When I was your age, maybe a little older, there were two boys who lived on my street and they lived to torture me. They would throw rocks at me, call me names, tell me I was a wimp and tell me I was boy. Every day they would find something to say to me. And one day I had just had enough. We were down on the beach and it was red tide so all these fish washed up on shore; it killed all the fish. I picked up one of those fish and took it right across his face.” In her lap, Taylor was listening to every word. “He started bleeding and he took off running back to his house and shortly after his mom showed up to my house and told my mom what happened, and you know what my mom said to her?” She shook her head. “She said, ‘Well I’ve never been able to control her much’.” Taylor smiled.

Outside, Ali was standing just against the door, listening. She was smiling too.

“And those boys never bothered me again. And I remember later that night my mom told me how proud she was of me. And when she told me that, it was like everything those boys ever said to me just disappeared. You know why? Because it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what they thought. What mattered was that I stood up for myself. And what matters is that you stood up for yourself. And I am so proud of you.”

Taylor turned and hugged Ashlyn, tighter than she ever had before. And Ashlyn did the same.

“I love you, mama.”

“I love you too, kid…so, so, much.”

Ashlyn walked out of the room to find Ali standing against the wall.

“Is she alright?” Ali asked softly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so…” She smiled. “Like mother, like daughter.”

Just as Ashlyn was about to walk away, Ali stopped her.

“Hey…good job in there. I’m not like you…I mean…I couldn’t have done that, at least not in the same way you did. She’s lucky she has someone like you....I’m lucky.”

Ashlyn pressed her lips onto Ali’s forehead and wrapped her arms around her.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did if it weren’t for you. I wouldn’t be a mom if it weren’t for you. Everything I have, I have because of you. I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

 


	3. Oh my god, you're....

“Ashlyn!” Ali called out into the backyard. “Ash!”

“Yeah!” Ashlyn’s reply was followed by the sound of multiple things falling and crashing onto the ground from inside the shed. Finally, she came out, a little disheveled. “Yeah babe, what’s up.”

“You need to go pick up Elliot.” Ali said, shielding the bright evening sun from her eyes.

“What time is it?”

“Almost quarter after two.”

Ashlyn took the rag from her shoulders and wiped her hands as she started back up to the house.

“Okay, I’m just going to change real quick.”

“You don’t have to change, you’re just going to pick her up. You’ll be there and back and then you can come back out here and do whatever it is that you’ve been doing in there.” Ashlyn smiled. “What _have_ you been doing in there?”

“Just sanding and re-coating a couple of my old boards.” She gave her a quick kiss and made her way to the garage. “I’ll be back in a few. Love you.”

“I love you.”

When Ashlyn pulled up, Elliot was sitting out on the bench waiting. When she saw Ashlyn, she got the biggest smile on her face and it took Ashlyn by surprise.

“Whoa ho ho! Look at that smile!” Ashlyn said as Elliot settled into the passenger’s seat. “What’s going on?”

Elliot took a deep breath and turned towards her mother, still helplessly unable to keep the smile from her face.

“Don’t be mad.”

“Why would I be mad-“ Then it hit her. “No…. please, no…”

“Tatts, he’s such a great guy. His name is Ryan. He’s in my chemistry class … and…“

“And?!”

“He asked me to go to the landing with him and some friends on Friday night..”

“The landing!” Ashlyn shot off quickly.

Ashlyn was no stranger to the activities that frequently took place at ‘the landing’. Elliot wasn’t exactly unaware of said activities either. _Nude swimming, drinking, partying, ‘parking’_ …. She would have been better off lying about where she was going, but she couldn’t lie to Ashlyn. You **don’t** lie to Ashlyn. She like a human lie detector-she will figure it out.

The car fell silent as Ashlyn debated what to say while Elliot, beside her, debated whether she should have lied to her instead and told her mom that they were just going for ice cream. But it was too late for that now.

“Absolutely not. No.”

“Tatts-“

“I said no. I don’t want to hear about it again.”

-

Elliot walked in the front door, with Ashlyn just a few lagging steps behind. Ali read the expression on her daughters face and was slightly worried.

“Oh no, please tell me you didn’t get into a fight too.” Ali said, dropping her shoulders.

“Nope, just trying to live, mom. But Tatts won’t let me. As usual.” Elliot quickly turned around to Ashlyn. “When are you going to stop treating me like I’m still a little girl? I’m seventeen! I’m a straight A student, I’ve never done a bad thing in my entire life. What are you so afraid of!!” With that, Elliot went straight to her room and slammed the door.

“Okay, what is going on with our kids today.” Ali asked.

Ashlyn dropped her keys into the bowl by the door and walked over and collapsed onto the couch with a groan.

“I don’t think it’s them,” Ashlyn replied. “I think it’s me. I think I’m a bad mom.”

“Ash…” Ali walked over and sat beside her wife and Ashlyn moved over and laid her head in her lap. “You’re not a bad mom. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t have some things you need to work on. Talking to your teenage daughter for one.”

“She wants to go on a date with some kid named Ryan from school on Friday.”

“Okay, and what’s wrong with that?”

“They’re going to the landing.” Now Ali understood the frustration.

“Ah.” Ali thought to herself for a moment, softly combing her fingers through Ashlyn’s hair. “I think we should let her go.” Ashlyn quickly sat up and looked at Ali with wide eyes.

“Al, you can’t be serious. You know what they do there!” She slowly leaned in closer to Ali and whispered. “We used to go to the landing…” This made Ali laugh.

“Which is exactly why I think we should let her go.” Ashlyn exhaled deeply, settling herself, before laying her head back into Ali’s lap. “Elliot is a smart girl, and I trust her. For Christs sake, she told you that’s where they were going. We lied about it when we went.”

There was a long pause between them before Ashlyn spoke again.

“I just don’t want anything to happen to her.” Her voice was soft and sincere. Ali brushed a light finger down Ashlyn’s nose.

“I know… and that’s the hardest part, isn’t it?” Ashlyn rolled over and was now looking up at Ali. “Knowing you can’t protect her forever.”

“I still feels like yesterday I was picking her up from preschool. And now look at her…”

“I know. It’s hard for me too.” Ashlyn held Ali’s hand and brought it to her lips and placed a kiss in her palm. “I remember bringing her home from the hospital that first night. Do you remember how scared we were?” She giggled. “We had no idea what we were doing. Hell, sometimes we still don’t. But we’ve made it this far. And I think we’ve done a fine job.” Ashlyn smiled. “She’ll always be our little girl. But we also have to accept that she’s just not so little anymore.” Ashlyn sat up again, this time standing up.

“I’ll go talk to her.” She said and Ali shook her head as she stood up beside her.

“Why don’t you let me take this one. Relax. You can take Taylor and go play outside.”

-

Ali quietly pushed open Elliot’s door and stepped inside. She was sitting at her window with her feet up, just looking out at the surf. She had her laptop on her lap pulled up to show the swell charts.

“It’s okay, mom, you don’t have to give me some elaborate explanation as to why it’s a bad idea. It’s alright. I really don’t want one right now.” Elliot’s tone wasn’t hard- it was level and calm; a little sad.

“Good. Because I’m not going to give you one.” Ali took a deep breath. “You can go.”

Elliot softly looked over her shoulder at her mother, she wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“I don’t want to go if Tatts is going to be mad.”

“Tatts- you’re mom, isn’t mad. She’s just worried, El. She loves you so much.”

Elliot looked away and stared back out the window at the ocean. Watching the waves build, crest, and finally crash onto the shore.

“Have you seen the swells this week? They’re totally killer.” She tried desperately to get off the topic. Ali walked over to the window and bent down, looking out at the water.

“You’re an awful lot like her, you know.” Ali said.

Elliot looked at Ali and then dropped her gaze to the backyard below. Ashlyn and Taylor were playing a game of nutmeg. Suddenly Ashlyn glanced up at the window and caught Elliot’s eyes, she smiled. Ashlyn raised her arm out and pointed to the water, gesturing with her arms that the waves were big. Ashlyn knew she was a total sucker for great surf.

“It’s just hard for her to let you grow up. But she’s willing to try.” Ali kissed Elliot on the top of head. “Now how about those swells you were talking about?” Elliot couldn’t help but grin. “There’s that smile I was waiting for. Now come on, get your suit on and me us out back.”

-

Elliot came walking out into the backyard with her wet-suit on and immediately walked over to Ashlyn and fell into her side, wrapping her in a hug. No words were said, but there didn’t have to be.

“What’s going on. Mommy?” Taylor asked, confused about the behavior between the two.

“Nothing, sweetie. Just another day at the Harris house.”

The surf was perfect. Everyone was able to catch at least three stellar waves. Ali wasn’t nearly as good as Ashlyn, but she only started once the Elliot was born. Elliot and Taylor have been surfing since before they could walk. Ashlyn always had them out in the water. That was what really got Ali into it, she wanted to be out there with them, especially when they were so little. And it was just fun. It was fun that it was something they could all do together. Some days when the kids would get rides home from school, they’d see Ali and Ashlyn out in the water having a little competition and the girls would grab tablets and markers and run out to the beach and score them. They were a competitive family, but it was all just fun to them.

Ali was floating off to the side watching Taylor and Ashlyn was with Elliot a couple yards away.

“Thank you for trusting me.” Elliot said, not making eye contact with Ashlyn. “I know you’re worried about me, but you don’t need to be. I was raised by two really great people, so-“ Elliot smiled and finally looked over at Ashlyn who was fighting off a smile of her own. “Are we cool?”

Ashlyn didn’t say anything, she simply raised her hand and shook a Shaka sign at her daughter. Elliot responded with the same. That was they’re thing. When you grow up in a surfing family, there are no thumbs up or pats on the back. No, here you simply extend a pinky and thumb and you’ve done good.

* * *

 

Early that morning, just before Elliot had to get up for school, Ali woke up. She looked to her side and Ashlyn was still sound asleep next to her. She sat there for a moment, wondering why she woke up so suddenly. The longer she sat there waiting, the more she started to feel sick. She felt nauseous; like she was going to throw up. Quickly, she jumped out of bed and ran across the hallway to bathroom. She sat on her floor in front of the toilet and just kept heaving. Ali wasn’t an idiot. She knew what was happening.

“Mom, are you okay-“ Suddenly, Elliot appeared in the doorway and saw her mother on the floor holding onto the toilet. Ali looked up at her with heavy eyes. “Oh my god, you’re pregnant.”

Ali raised her hands above her head and tried a laugh but that only sent her hovering back over the bowl and heaving more.


	4. We've talked about this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been awhile, I know, but I found this chapter actually completely written and figured it was doing my laptop no use just sitting in a folder so...Here we are! Enjoy guys:)

Elliot sat in silence at the table across from Ali as Ashlyn made crepes just a few feet away at the counter behind them. They were practically having a stare down. Elliot wanted to talk about the fact that she found Ali throwing her guts up into the toilet this morning but she didn’t want to say it out loud. She still didn’t know if Ashlyn knew.

Ashlyn walked over to the table and set the plate of crepes down between the two. When she turned back around to grab the fruit and Nutella, Elliot saw that as her window of opportunity.

“ _Does Tatts know?_ ” She mouthed over to Ali, gesturing to her mom with a quick nod.

Ali slowly shook her head ‘no’.

“Alright, I’m going to get a shower.” Ashlyn said as she turned around and set the plate down between the two. When she walked down the hallway and into the bathroom, Elliot got up and moved to the seat beside Ali.

“Why haven’t you told her? It’s not like she’s going to be mad. And it’s not like you guys can get pregnant on accident like everybody else either, I mean, let’s be real.” She made a good point.

“We were doing IVF treatments, we did the last one a little over a month ago. But when I took the test the first time, it came back negative. So I told Ashlyn that; honestly she was devastated. So anyway, I let it go and then a few weeks or so later I started to feel weird. I just knew. So I took the test again and it was positive. And now here we are.”

“So even then, what’s the big secret? Tatts is going to be over the moon when you tell her!”

Ali took a long deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.

“You don’t think I’m too old to have baby?”

“I mean, it’s not un-heard-of for someone your age to have a baby.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Ali’s laugh caught in her throat.

“You’re hot, mom. Like… _really hot_. Have a baby if you want. Have two, three, I don’t really care. You’ll still look better than anyone out there.” This made Ali smile. Elliot always had a way with her. Sometimes they were more like sisters than mother and daughter.

“I love you, El. You’re the best.” Ali wrapped her daughter in a quick hug.

“Yeah, I knoooow.” Elliot smiled and kissed her mother on the side of the head before getting up and going back to her seat. “But seriously, you need to tell Tatts. That’s kind of important.”

“I know. I know. I will.” Ali sighed again.

“You should like plan a big reveal. You should do something cute.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Mostly because I want to help you with it. I think it would be fun. Taylor can be in on it too.”

“Tatts would be all over that. She loves surprise parties.”

“She also loves stopping at the arcade in the movie theater just to play Dinosaur Hunter. What I’m trying to say is,” Elliot shoveled a fork full of crepe into her mouth. “it’s not going to take a whole lot to really impress her.” They both laughed at the cringing truth of that statement. Ali thought back to the countless times she waited outside the arcade with the kids just after Ashlyn plead as the came out of the theatre, _just one game_. Every time. It made her laugh. Ali came back to reality and watched as her daughter made a mess of herself as she piled on the Nutella and strawberries onto her plate and then into her mouth.

“It’s so weird.” Ali spoke, getting Elliot’s attention. “You look just like me…but you eat just like her.”

“What’s the supposed to mean?”

Ali finished her plate and slowly stood to place it in the sink.

“It means I feel sorry for whoever has to clean up after you once you’re out of here.”

“Wow, rude!” She laughed.

Ali came and got her plate from her and Elliot started to clean up everything.

“Oh hey,” Elliot started. “I wanted to ask you,”

“Sure. babe, what’s up?”

“Do you think after school today you and I could go to the mall?”

“Yeah, sure.” Ali saw no problem with this. “What do you need at the mall?”

“Well…I was hoping you would help me find something to wear on my date tomorrow…”

Ali spun around at the counter, a stupid grin on her face.

“Oh come on, please don’t make me regret asking you.”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment. My daughter is going on her first real date and she wants _my_ help to find an outfit. I’m so happy I could cry.”

“That’s probably just the hormones.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” They both quietly nodded in subtle agreement. “So I’ll pick you up at 2:30? Good?”

“Perfect.”

\----------------------

“Hey hun,” Ali called into the bathroom as she entered.

“That’s me!” Ashlyn replied from the shower, Ali smiled. She loved when she said that.

“I’m going to pick Elliot up from school and I’m taking her to the mall to get some new clothes.” Ali waited for the questions or request of further explanation.

“New clothes?”

“Yeah, she wanted me to help her pick out something for tomorrow.” Ali cautiously continued. Even though Ashlyn agreed to it, it was still a bit of a rough topic for the over-protective mom. “You know, for her date.” The room was quiet for a moment.

“Oh, yeah. Alright. Cool.” Ashlyn replied very nonchaulantly. “I’ll just take Taylor to the fields for some kick around or something.”

Ali was relieved to see that Ashlyn was still on the cool about the whole situation.

“Great.”

-

Elliot put on the final touches of her makeup and then appeared at the top of the stairs. When Ashlyn heard the stairs creak and looked up to see Elliot, in the floral summer dress Ali had helped her pick out, she couldn’t help thinking how truly beautiful she was. She got up from the chair and walked over to meet her at the bottom of the steps. Looking at the expression on Ashlyn’s face, it was hard to read, and Elliot thought that she was coming to tell her that she changed her mind, but she was proved wrong when she spoke.

“That dress is beautiful. You look beautiful, El.” Her mother smiled and Ali watched with adoration from the side before stepping in.

“She’s right. You look so pretty. Just wait to Ryan sees you.” This caused Ashlyn to turn a worried head to her wife, but she managed to suppress the concern and masked it with a smile as she tuned back to her daughter.

“Thanks, mom.” She said to Ali as she wrapped her in a hug. She turned to Ashlyn and playfully punching her in the arm as she laughed. “I promise, you can trust me. I love you, Tatts.”

“I love you too, kid.” Ashlyn kissed her daughter’s forehead before giving her a tight hug. She nearly wanted to cry.

They heard the car beeping out front and Elliot quickly turned to the sound.

“Gotta go!” She kissed both her moms on the cheek and headed for the door. Ashlyn’s heart broke when it closed behind her.

“Hey, she’s going to be fine.” Ali responded to the look of dismay on Ashlyn’s face.

Ashlyn forced a smile and kissed her wife.

“I’m going to get a shower then probably head to bed.”

It was a little early, Ali thought, but she knew that what they just did wasn’t easy for Ashlyn. She figured getting a shower and going to sleep may be the best thing because then she wouldn’t be up worrying herself to death.

“Okay, babe. I’ll be down here. I’ve got like a million things backed up on our queue so.”

“Alright, I love you, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, I love you.”

An hour or so had passed since Ashlyn went upstairs and Ali was deep into clearing off the recorded section on the tv. She walked into the kitchen to refill her coffee cup when she heard something behind her. She was caught off guard to see her wife tiptoeing towards the garage with a sweatshirt on and the hood up. She watched her for a moment, she wanted to see what she was doing. She stepped in as Ashlyn reached for the door handle.

“Ashlyn.”

Ashlyn was startled by the unexpected voice and she jumped a little bit. Slowly she turned towards Ali, knowing full well she was busted. Ali walked over to Ashlyn and yanked the hood down from her head and didn’t even know what to think when she saw a pair of googles resting on her forehead. She then looked down and unzipped the front of her sweatshirt to reveal a camouflage wetsuit.

“Ash, I don’t even want to ask, but I feel like I have to….What the hell are you doing?”

“Just thought I would do a little night surfing.” Ashlyn replied.

Ali took a step back and crossed her arms. She knew something was up.

“You don’t go night surfing.”

Ashlyn didn’t have a response to that. And if she did, she was taking too long to come up with it. She knew she was in for it. Suddenly Ali was able to put it together.

“Oh my god. You’re going to spy on Elliot. Ashlyn, what are you thinking! What happened to ‘ _Oh I trust you El. I trust you._ ’” Ali mocked her wife in an exaggerated tone.

“I do trust her!” Ashlyn said before getting frustrated. “I don’t trust him!”

“You don’t even know him!”

“MY POINT EXACTLY!” Ashlyn whisper yelled. No one was sleeping, but they did have neighbors. “How are you not worried about this!”

“I never said I wasn’t! But Jesus Christ, that doesn’t mean I’m going to get all dressed up and what? What were you going to do,” Ali gestured up and down Ashlyn to the wetsuit. “Infiltrate the beach? At night? In thirty degree water? You’re not a navy seal! We’ve talked about this!”

“I can be a Navy Seal if I want to!”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT” Ali took a breath. “You can’t float out in the ocean and spy on your daughter. Ashlyn! There are sharks out there!

Ashlyn honestly thought it was a good plan. She was a little upset that Ali didn’t share that feeling.

“I KNOW ABOUT THE SHARKS, Okay! I get it. So what are you saying I should do? Just sit here and let my imagination kill me?”

Suddenly Ali dropped her defense and sighed as she started thinking.

“I’m saying if you’re going to spy on her, you gotta do it the old-fashioned way.” Ali said. “And I’m coming with you.” Ashlyn couldn’t believe her ears.

“Wait…are you serious?”

“Dead. Now lose the suit and go change.” Ali took the goggles from her wife’s head as she brushed past her, grabbing her own sweatshirt from the hook by the door. “The binoculars are in the closet. I’ll be in the car.”

“Goddamnit. I knew I married the right woman.”


	5. The Landing

"We can’t leave Taylor here." Ashlyn said as she rummaged through the closet for the binoculars. "You know, these things won’t really do us any good in the dark."

"I can take her to my mom’s?" Ali offered an alternative.

"Tomorrow is Saturday. We could do that." Ashlyn nodded. "Hey, bubba!" Ashlyn called up the stairs. "Taylor!"

The young tomboy came running to the railing.

"Yeah! I’m here."

"You want to sleep over at grandma’s tonight? Mom and I have some running around to do. I’ll ride over in the morning and we can go to the skate park! Maybe even catch some surf?"

"Which beach?" Taylor asked curiously as if the answer would sway her decision.

"Whichever one you want." Ashlyn slowly raised her hand and shook a Shaka in question of agreement. After some thought, Taylor raised her hand and shook her hand with her thumb and pinky extended, smiling.

"Okay, mama."

"Alright, alright, alright." Ashlyn clapped. "Grab a bag. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready."

Taylor ran back the hallway and closed her door.

Ashlyn turned to Ali and shrugged her shoulders. "Well. I guess that takes care of that."

"Yep. Alright." Ali slapped her hands down at her sides. "We’re really doing this." She said a bit nervously.

Ashlyn slumped her shoulders and walked over to her wife.

"I know. This is a terrible idea." Ashlyn said, rubbing Ali’s shoulders.

"But we’re still doing it."

"Oh absolutely."

—

The three of them piled into the bronco, the ‘crawler’ the kids called it. It was an old 1973 light blue beast that Ashlyn bought strictly to be the designated beach cruiser since it rides on the beach like nothing else and it wouldn’t really matter if it got messed up. Plus, it had exceptional storage space, which was good for days when the whole family went to the beach for the day. Their boards, clothes and food all fit like a dream in the back of that baby.

Luckily it was a quick side trip to drop a Taylor off at Deb’s. Since The two of them got married, deb moved up from Miami to be closer to the family. Ashlyn’s parents were already right there so it was perfect, now everyone was right there in case of an emergency; or in case of things like this-which didn’t exactly qualify as an emergency. But you get the picture.

"That kid picked her up at what? 7 o’clock?" Ashlyn said thinking as she rubbed her hands eagerly on the steering wheel.

"Yeah. About 7." Ali confirmed.

"They surely have to be eating somewhere first or getting milkshakes or something. That’s what we always did."

"She’s stopped right out front of dakine Diego’s." Ali poked in nonchalantly as her eyes scanned her phone screen.

"What?" Ashlyn looked over at her quickly. "How do you know that?"

"I can track her phone through that find my iPhone app. Syd showed me. I actually got it to track her on the bus when she went for soccer so I knew where to go. Now I always know where she is."

"Wha- that’s so cool. Can you show me?!"

"Yeah, babe. I’ll show you when we get home."

"Awesome. Now. I want to get down to the landing before they do. You know, find a good spot. Get a vantage point."

"There you go again with the navy seal talk..."

"Alright, woman. You just...you shush, over there."

"Whatever you say...lady."

Ashlyn’s eyes widened and Ali grinned with satisfaction. She knew Ashlyn hated being called ‘lady’.

"Mmm I see how you wanna play." Ashlyn looked over at her wife and laughed before it finally faded into a soft smile.

Ali leaned over and kissed her.

—

The landing was a small strip of beach that was sort of separated from the rest. It was big enough to fit 7 or so cars and in the middle there was a fire pit. And as you can imagine, since it first became a popular, it was the place the older kids went to ‘hangout’. Ashlyn having grown up in the area knew those details all too well. And as she mentioned before, when Ali and her were first dating and they’d come back to Florida to visit- Ashlyn would take her there. It’s just one of those things that you remember you did when you were younger and then one day your kids are old enough to start doing it and it’s just not even an option in your head because you could never imagine your child doing any of the bad things you did when you were young. Ashlyn was easily more guilty of those types of things than Ali because growing up in a small surfing town is much different than growing up in prestigious northern Virginia. Ashlyn and her friends were always doing things they shouldn’t have been doing; sneaking into movies they were too young to see, surfing on private property, climbing the water tower, heckling the police, ‘parking’ on the beach, underage drinking...and sometimes worse. A lot of her decisions though were made because of her less than ideal home life. In a small town, it’s easy to get into things you shouldn’t get into when you’re trying to avoid going home as much as possible. So yeah, she had a handful of regrettable choices and the last thing she wanted was for her daughter to make those same choices.

"Hey, pull over at that gas station. I want to get some snacks." Ali said.

Ashlyn pulled over into the marathon and her and the two of them got out. Ali wandered on down to the chips while the tall blonde walked straight back to the refrigerators and grabbed a water and a root beer, then picked up a bag of beef jerky on her way back threw. Just as she started towards the counter, she turned to find her wife behind approaching behind her- arms full. She walked up the the counter and laid out a bag of Hawaiian onion chips, a couple slim Jims, a bag of sour gummy worms, a snickers, Reece’s cups, and a fountain soda in the largest cup Ashlyn had ever seen. The clerk looked at Ali and then looked at Ashlyn.

“Is this all together?” He question, uninterested.

“Yeah, I got it.” Ashlyn pulled out her wallet and handed him her card.

He took the card and scanned it.

“You guys got the munchies or something?”

Ali scoffed.

“I’m a mother.” He then looked at Ashlyn again.

“Are you a mother too?”

“Can you just ring me up please.” He slowly began to nod and handed her the card back.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He scooted the bag over. “There ya go. You guys don’t get too wild now.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Ashlyn took it and the two of them turned away.

Once they got out to the parking lot, Ashlyn looked over at the brunette.

“Jesus, Al, you bought enough snacks to last three days.”

“I’m sorry, everything just looked so good. I couldn’t decide.”

Ashlyn began to laugh.

“It’s okay. Just please don’t try and eat all of that now. I don’t want you to get sick.” Ashlyn opened her door and hopped in.

“Yes ma’am.” Ali saluted as she climbed into the seat beside her.

“Alight. Let’s do this.”

It wasn’t a very far drive to the landing. It was just south of the town limits; probably only about a 20-30 minute drive. And it was one of the most beautiful drives, especially at night. Even though it had been dark for nearly and hour or so now, the air was still warm, but yet cool and crisp. And with the bronco having the open top body style, the air felt even more crisp.

Ali looked over from the passenger seat at Ashlyn. In the wind, her blonde curls were trying so badly to remove themselves from the ponytail on the back of her head. A few shorter pieces were successful, as they blew freely beside her ear and curved over to her mouth. Ali reached over and lightly removed it and Ashlyn looked over.

“You’re so pretty, Ashlyn.” Ali said, nearly in a whisper.

“Yeah?” Ashlyn questioned with a kiddish smile.

“Yeah.”

Ashlyn reached over and took Ali’s hand.

“Yeah, yeah.” She said, unconvinced. “Buy you’re beautiful.”

Ali laughed, the way she always did. How it starts in her stomach and then catches in her throat and just comes out as some quick mumbled sound.

“I love you.

“I love you too.” She smiled.

It was quiet a few moments before Ali spoke again.

“Do you think we’re good parents? We raised good kids, right?”

“No....we raised awesome kids.”

Ali smiled.

“So you like being a mom?”

Ali watched Ashlyn’s reaction closely.

“Are you kidding? Being a mom is the best job I’ve ever had. And I’ve had some pretty cool ones.”

Ali smiled and shoved her softly with her hand.

The car went silent again. The only sound was the wind deflecting from the windshield.

Ali wanted to tell Ashlyn so badly but just hadn’t figured out how. She didn’t want to do it now, not while they were driving to spy on their daughter. She wanted it to be special. But she still wanted; needed, to be sure that Ashlyn would be ready for a round 3.

“So would you do it all again...if the opportunity presented itself?”

Ashlyn thought for a moment before she answered, and then answered truthfully.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I would.” Ashlyn watched the light in Ali’s eyes dance. “What is it baby? Are you thinking about trying again? Is that what you want to do?” Ashlyn’s voice was so sweet, so comforting, and it put every bone concerned and anxious bone in Ali’s body at ease.

Ali simply shrugged her shoulders and rested her arm up on her door and laid her head against her hand.

“I don’t know.” She said softly. “I don’t know.”

Ashlyn couldn’t see her face now, but there was no question, Ali was happy at that response.

—

Ashlyn pulled off and drove down the small sand road to the landing. She drove to the edge of the water and swung wide, pulling the bronco up just beside the row of trees and put it in park.

“And now we wait.” Ali said.

“And now we wait.” Ashlyn echoed beside her.

“Don’t you think she’ll recognize the car?” Ali asked but Ashlyn just shrugged her shoulders.

“I doubt it. She’d really only notice it if she was looking for it, you know what I mean? And she has no reason to suspect that we’d be here.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I just hope you’re right.”

Ali leaned down and dug through the marathon bag until she found the Hawaiian chips.

“Yeah, you better open those now before it’s too late you and wake up the entire neighborhood crinkling that bag.” Ashlyn laughed. “Can you hand me the beef jerky?”

—

Ten or so minutes passed and the sun was at full set now and Ashlyn saw the glow on Ali’s face as she watched the small blue dot move closer and closer.

“They left Dakine’s. They’re about 10 minutes away.” ALi took a deep breath. “I really hope this Ryan is a nice guy and this is all just us being over protective and worried. I mean, what if he really is a douche bag?”

“Well then I’m going to make sure he knows it...along with he rest of this town.”

“You do know you can go to jail if you hit a seventeen year old.”

“I’d happily go to prison over anyone being disrespectful to my daughter. I may be the fun parent, but- ouch!”

Ali slapped her wife’s arm.

“Excuse me! Who said you were the ‘fun parent’?”

“It was anonymous.”

“Mhmm.” Ali said before cracking a smile. “You’re such a jerk.”

The wait was finally over. The headlights from the bergade of teenagers finally began rolling into the landing. About three cars in, was Elliot and Ryan. With no less than completely perfect and favorable luck, they parked nearly directing in front of the across the beach.

She looked happy, Ali noted in her head. Elliot looked happy with him. Young, her eyes full of love. What made Ali all warm inside made Ashlyn a tad nauseous.

A couple of the guys got together at the fore pit and started trying to get one lit. Honestly, all the kids seemed very well mannered and well behaved compared to the kids Ashlyn used to see here when she was young and in a way that settled her anxious mind. For the first half hour or so it was relatively quiet. The kids were all parked in a half-ish circle around the fire, setting up on the hoods talking, laughing...living. This is what warmed Ashlyn’s heart. Seeing all those kids, from what seemed to be all walks of life and statues just sitting around a fire talking as if they’ve all known each other forever even though she’s sure some of them are probably meeting for the first time. She remember what it was like for her when she was around people who just genuinely enjoyed the company of others, who genuinely enjoyed living. It was special. And it was special to her to see her daughter be part of something like that.

All of a sudden there grew a sound in the distance. It was a motorcycle up on the road, heading towards them. Sure enough once it got close, it turned down onto the beach and parked. It had a single rider. A young kid, a boy. Ashlyn noticed how everyone there kind of shifted where they sat on the hoods when he arrived. Who was the kid? And why does everyone seem to have the same disposition about him? Ashlyn was now watching the boy closely.

“Who is that?” Ali whispered.

“I don’t know.”

The kid was rather tall and lanky. Had longer dirty blonde hair, dark ripped jeans, some old sneakers on and a jean jacket. He turned around to set his helmet on the seat and a bowling bowl dropped into her stomach. There was name painted across the back of his jacket. ‘Connors’.

“That’s Jimmy Connors’ son.”

“Jimmy Connors? You mean one of the punks that used to bully you? The one you slapped with a fish?”

“Yeah....you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Do you think he knows? About you? That Elliot is your daughter?” Ali began to panic.

“I sure hope not..”

“Jim Connor’s, he’s chief of police of Brevard County.”  
“Yep. And you know what they say- the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Maybe he’s a nice kid. You don’t know.”

“No, I don’t.” Ashlyn then switched her eyes over to her daughter and Ryan and the rest of the kids. “But they do.”

Ashlyn sat back in her seat and crossed her arms and watched the Connors boy, all night.

For the most part, besides heckling a few of the kids, he pretty much kept to himself. That was until he went back to his bike an took out a few beers from his bag.

It was almost ten o’clock now. It was getting colder. Suddenly Ryan’s phone began to ring and he frantically tried to get it out from his pocket. He answered it, nodded his head a few times and then put the phone back in his pocket. They were too far away to hear what he had said. HE turned to Elliot and made some concerning hand gestures as he spoke the motioned back to the road. They may have been out of hearing range but Ashlyn was a near expert at reading lips and she made out the last thing he said to her daughter.

**‘I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.’**

“What’s happening?” Ali said as she watched Ryan get into the car and Elliot stepped out of the way of it. “Where’s he going?"

“He’s leaving. I don’t know.” Ashlyn shook her head angrily. “I can’t believe he just left her here.”

Ashlyn soon noticed something happening that was weighing on her much more heavily than Ryan leaving, and that was that the Connors boy saw him leave, and now he was making his way over to Elliot.

"Ash, what’s he doing?" Ali said as she instinctively reached over and grabbed her wife’s arm.

"I don’t know." Ashlyn’s tone was shallow. “But it better not be anything stupid."

They both sat uneasily as they watched the boy approach their daughter. They could see the unease in her eyes just by seeing him walking her way and it was taking everything Ashlyn had to keep herself put. They were both thankful though, now that it was later and the fire and the kids had quieted down- it was much easier to hear. So they listened.

"Elliot Harris." He said. "Abandoned by her date. Such a shame." He had a snake-ish smile.

Now that Ashlyn could hear his voice- her blood boiled even hotter. He had a hiss just like his father.

"What do you want, Bradley?" Elliot snarled back.

"I just want to keep you some company. That’s all. I’d hate for you to have to sit all by yourself."

"I appreciate the offer but I’m just fine. I don’t need you to keep me company."

They could tell by the way they talked to each other that this was not the first encounter that they’ve had.

"Come on, don’t be rude, El." He reached over and brushed a piece of hair from her face and she quickly turned away.

"Don’t call me that."

"What’s the matter? Is Ryan the only one allowed to call you that."

"Stop it." She said assertively.

But it wasn’t enough.  
"Ryan is a boy. He doesn’t know what to do with you. He even left you here."

"He’s coming back."

"He’s a poor choice. I can’t blame you though, growing up without a man in the house." He stepped closer to her. Too close and Ashlyn’s jaw tightened while Ali just looked on in horror. "Why don’t I show you what it’s like to have a man around?"

Without giving it thought and just as Ashlyn was about to get out of the car, Elliot gave him one swift kick between his legs. He doubled over but without skipping a beat, stood back up and took the back of his hand across Elliot’s face.

Ashlyn was out of the car before she hit the ground and Ali was right behind her.

Ashlyn grabbed a handful of the back of his jacket and threw him down onto the ground.

"What the hell!" He said. He reached over and rubbed his arm.

"Don’t you ever...EVER, lay a hand on my daughter again!"

"Jesus, you crazy bitch. I think you broke my arm!"

"You’re lucky I don’t do worse!"

The boy stood up, holding his arm, his eyes hazed with anger.

"My father will hear about this."

"Oh yes, he will." Ashlyn hissed back.

Bradley turned away and walked over to his bike and drove off. Ashlyn watched him until he was out of site before she turned around and found Elliot’s eyes as Ali held onto her.

Just then a car pulled down from off the road, it was Ryan.

"Tatts. What are you doing here?" Elliot’s voice was flat and unreadable.

Before she could answer, Ryan came running from behind her and over to Elliot.

"El, what happened? Are you okay. I’m so sorry I left."

"I’m sorry, Ryan. But I thinks it’s time for us to take Elliot home." Ali said, helping her daughter to her feet.

She began walking her back to the car and it was just Ryan and Ashlyn.

He turned to her.

"I’m sorry-"

"Save it." Ashlyn said evenly. "I don’t want to hear it. Not tonight."

Ashlyn turned away and followed her wife and daughter to the car.

It was a quiet drive home.

—

Ashlyn opened the front door and let Ali and Elliot passed her as she followed a few steps behind the two of them as they made their way upstairs. Ashlyn stayed there, standing in the living room. She was angry, but she was also afraid. She was angry that Ryan left her, angry that someone had hurt her; and afraid at the same time that Elliot would be angry with her for breaking her trust.

But what would have happened if she hadn’t broken that trust? What would have happened if she hadn’t been there? Had this type of thing happened before? How many times? And for how long?

Ashlyn threw her keys in the bowl beside the door and peeled off her sweatshirt. She fell heavily onto the couch and threw her head back trying to even make sense of what she just saw.

Upstairs Ali was with Elliot in the bathroom. She ran a wash under the cold water and gently placed it over her daughters cheek. It was red a swollen. She was bleeding a bit from where is ring had caught her.

"What were you guys doing there?" Elliot’s voice was so soft.

"To be honest, sweetie," she shrugged her shoulders a tear welled in her eyes. "I don’t know." She said as she shook her head.

"It was Tatts’ idea, wasn’t it?" She watched her mother sink into herself and force a smile, trying desperately to keep herself from crying.

Elliot could see the pain in her mother’s eyes and somehow, she understood.

"I’m glad that you were there. Both of you."

"You know, you are so much more like her than you realize."

"What do you mean?"

"You have her eyes."

"The way I see things, you mean." Elliot said and Ali smiled.

"And her wisdom."

"Is she mad at me?"

"No, no. Of course not." Ali said. "Honestly she’s probably worried you’re mad at her."

"But I’m not."

"Then why don’t you tell her that. That’s all she wants right now. She needs to know that you don’t hate her. She loves you so much."

"How do I do that?"

"However you want to."

"Thanks, mom."

"You’re welcome, baby." Ali kissed her kissed her head.

"I love you." Elliot said, just as she was made her way into the hallway.

"I love you too."

Elliot slowly came down the stairs and into the living room where she found her mother laying on the couch with her head back, rubbing her eyes as she winced. Ashlyn heard her come around the couch and she took her hand away from her eyes.

"Hey you." Ashlyn said softly.

Elliot stood silent for a few moments before she walked over and crawled onto the couch and rested her head into her mother’s lap and closed her eyes. She said nothing and somehow that said everything.

 

 

 


End file.
